A road accident every 10 minutes!
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A road accident occurs every 10 minutes in Sri Lanka and the resultant losses of lives is six or seven, a study has revealed.

Only 30 out of these accidents get reported, says director general of the non-communicable diseases unit Thilak Siriwardena.

150 admitted to hospital a day

Also, more than 150 people are admitted to hospital following road accidents on a daily basis, he says.

Most of these accidents are blamed on three wheelers and motorcycles.

According to the National Council on Road Safety, 18,980 road accidents occurred from 01 January 2017 to 30 June 2017.

Of them, 1,473 were fatal, causing 1,547 deaths.

These accidents also left 4,062 with serious injuries and 15,340 with minor injuries, says the council.

20,000 deaths a year

Meanwhile, statistics issued by the office of the police media spokesman for fatal road accidents between 2012 and 2016 indicates that around 20,000 lives were lost each year.

Traffic police director Indika Hapugoda says 2013 experienced a comparatively lesser number of road mishaps, attributing it to a decline in the registration in motor vehicles and the non-existence of an expressway network.